A Truer Ending
by tephlonx5
Summary: [UNDERTALE] This work is based off of a literal interpretation of the events of Undertale, factoring in elements of the Meta-Lore, alongside the storytelling elements within the game, and the world surrounding it. Please keep an open mind, as this work will also dive into some darker themes here, and there. Cover Image: /art/DETERMINATION-Chara-and-Frisk-Undertale-615158922
1. Chapter 1 - Hopeless

* This is it. This is the end of the world. It's the end of everything you know.  
* You, and all of your friends stand in the space between timelines. Standing before you all, is The First Human.  
* All of existence, everyone's lives, their hopes, and their dreams, rests on your shoulders.  
* Being here, knowing your decisions will shape the world, knowing the fate of all your friends rests on you...  
* Fills you with DETERMINATION...

* But this... isn't really our story. This isn't your story. Perhaps... it's best to rewind. To explain from the very beginning.

* * *

Where do we begin, exactly? We could start with the human falling into the underground. Tell the story of their making friends with all the monsters of the underground. A compelling story of compassion, and love. The happy ending that everyone deserved. That's the story everyone loves to hear, isn't it? Except... it didn't end so happily for our human. Just before their life with their new monster friends truly got started, the world went black again. They awoke at the beginning once more. The smell of aster flowers filling their nostrils. The scent of the ruins in the distance.

It was disorienting at first, and panicking secondly. All of their progress was taken back. They'd done so much! They'd done everything correctly, hadn't they? Made friends with everyone. Never harmed a soul... everything had gone perfectly. And yet, here they lie, at the beginning again. So, they set off once again. Unlike the first time around, where they had to reset because they killed a monster in self defence, this time, they did it all perfectly on their very first adventure.

They stayed a whole day with Toriel, the lonely matron of the ruins, exchanging stories, and telling jokes. Being all-around pleasant. Toriel was the one they got to spend the least time with, after all. Their departure was all the more painful for it. They met Sans in the forest, and Papyrus shortly after. Spaghetti was quickly becoming the human's favorite dish. A fateful battle! A fateful date! Alas, poor Papyrus cannot love, but shall remain a good friend. Onward, to the confrontations with Undyne, the vigilant Royal Guard, and a passionate outing with a fish, afterward. Then, a meeting with a lizard, whom they gave their full support, and all of their patience.

Time spent with a robot is time well spent, and our human participates in every event, stomping every puzzle, and dashing to the finish. These events culminate into a show most dazzling, as the human, and the robot dance together, and put on an unforgettable spectacle, like a well-choreographed pair. Inevitably, the human must go. Onward, the human marches, past the monsters, and into the hall of judgment. Cast in the name of GOD, ye worthy. The judge passes the human with some kind words of encouragement. Then, the confrontation with a monster filled with regret, followed by a weed most foul.

Victory. Load. True lab. Amalgamate horrors await, but they aren't there to harm the human, they're truly affectionate! Finally, Alphys is brought a modicum of solace, and peace of heart. Finally, once again, the battle of wills with an ancient goat. But our human's hopes and dreams prove sufficient. Their love is great, and in the end, they hug an old friend, and console them. Don't worry, young goat. Your loved ones will be cared for. At last! The end is at hand! The barrier is down, the monsters are free! Our human goes to bed, happy, knowing once and for all that-

Yellow flowers. The human opens their eyes, once again to be confronted with yellow. In a panic, they get up, and look around, desperately hoping this was a dream. They pinch their arm, and nothing happens. They cry, and scream, for Toriel to wake them up. But nobody came. Twice, now, cheated from their fate, our human collapses among the flowers, and they weep.

"Wh-what... am I.. doing wrong?!" They ask themselves, and the world around them, between gasping breaths. They weep for hours. They cry, until it hurts. Until the tear ducts in their eyes are sore, and their entire face is throbbing with their crying. Sobbing still, they stand up, and try to do it all again. The only way to know, for sure, was to play this game over and over again, until something gives.

"Are you seriously crying?" Flowey asks, before he is blown away by a motherly figure.

The human finds solace in the arms of their adoptive mother, and are guided through the ruins... and it all begins again. The story unfolds as the story ought to, just as before. This time, they do things a little different, however. They make sure to talk to every monster. They fail all of Mettaton's challenges. They try to get into Alphys's true lab, before the fight with Asgore, to no avail. They try to talk Asgore out of the fight, saying it's pointless, but he won't listen. They finish the fight with Flowey, and they finish their story with Alphys. They tried something new, this time! Surely, whatever presence was keeping them here... they should be satisfied with this performance?

And yet, again... the human wakes up in flowers. This time, they are not deterred by this. It's becoming routine, being thrust back against the beginning walls, and being forced to do it all over again. They are filled with DETERMINATION. They go back to work. This time, they try to act cold to Papyrus. But, couldn't keep up the act. They try to be mean to Undyne, but their heart won't let them keep it up.

Yet again, at the end of their adventure, they find themselves in that bed of flowers once again. Once again, undeterred, they go. They try it all another way. This time, after the fight with Asriel, however, they go through all of the underground, to see if there was anything they missed. They find their goat friend at the beginning, amongst the bed of flowers. There was an emotional exchange, as Asriel tells the human about Chara, and how they were truly different. How they weren't a good person. Afterwards, the human gives Asriel one last embrace, before going back. This was it, wasn't it? The missing element. Maybe nothing else they did mattered, it was just this exchange with Asriel. They get back to their friends, go to the surface, and-

They awake, once again, in a bed of yellow flowers.


	2. Chapter 2 - Guilt

How many times had Frisk done this, now? 100... no. It was closer to 90 than a whole hundred, now. 94 times. Frisk was starting to feel emotionally detached from the moments most impactful to them. Every time they reunite with Toriel, it was beginning to feel like a chore. Every time they met Papyrus, they were starting to feel the beginning twinges of annoyance. The things Frisk most endeared about their closest friends, were starting to get on their nerves.

112 times, now. They greeted every friend with a weary smile, wanting, desperately, to feel it was all okay again. 174 times. The smile was waning. All expression was beginning to drain from their face, as each successive run proved more, and more, that this was becoming a farce. Would they ever escape? 242 times, and Frisk began to want time away from their friends. They began to despise their entrapment here. No matter how much you love someone, there always comes a time at which you tire of their presence.

Wild ideas began to make their way into Frisk's head. Ideas of... killing their friends. What else could they do? They were starting to consider the possibility that pacifism wasn't the right course of action. That, maybe, they were doing it all wrong, and Flowey was right. What if this world WAS kill, or be killed? And there were no other options truly available?

"You are stronger than I thought... I was... I was wrong, my child. Listen to me. If you go beyond this door... keep walking as far as you can. You will reach the exit, eventually." Toriel coughed, as she sunk to her knees, one hand clutching at the open wound, opened by a toy knife. Frisk was shaking, tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Do not... let ASGORE... take your soul. Please, my child... Be good, won't you?" Those were her last words, before she crumbled into a pile of dust on the ground. Her soul, shattered. And Frisk's heart... broken,

"N-no... no, I-I... I c-c-can't... I can't do this!" And they reached out to their save file, setting themselves back to their previous save, and they wept. They couldn't possibly bring themselves to kill the monsters of the underground, could they? No, not just monsters, but their friends. Their BEST friends. The only ones who ever cared for them...

Hearing sobbing coming from the human's room, Toriel appeared in the doorway, looking worried.

"What is the matter, small one? Did you have a nightmare?" Toriel asked, as she slowly strode into the room, and sat upon the human's bed, beside the curled up human. Frisk did not look up from their knees. They simply nodded, whimpering to themselves. Toriel reached out, and began to gently stroke Frisk's head. "Please, my child... you needn't worry about anything. I am here for you, and I always will be."

Frisk shuddered. Toriel's kindness only made them feel worse about this. How would Frisk ever be able to kill such a kind creature as Toriel? How could they possibly bring harm to this warm mother figure? Frisk sniffled, and whimpered more, as their sobbing was finally starting to come to an end. They slowly tried to inch over to Toriel, but, she, noticing the advance, pulled an arm around the human, and scooped them in close, for an embrace, gently petting their side.

"I... I had a dream that I killed you..." Frisk piped up, after several more moments of that fading crying. Though, their voice came out cracked, and slightly higher-pitched than normal. Toriel stopped stroking Frisk's side for a short moment, before resuming the gentle caresses, and cooing gently.

"Hush, my child. It was only a dream. You needn't feel bad over something so little as that." She leaned down to the human, and gave the top of their head a gentle nuzzle, before sitting straight,and tilting her head a bit. "I have only known you for a day, human. But I feel I have known you all these centuries. I have seen the way you treat every monster with kindness. I see the gentleness in your eyes. You mustn't worry. I do not think you would ever do something such as that." She gently squeezed Frisk, leaning down for a hug.

Toriel's kindness went on for some time. And in time, Frisk was comforted to a point, they were able to carry on. They resolved that... even if killing monsters was the only way out of here, it wasn't worth it. These monsters... were Frisk's friends. They were the only people that ever cared for, or truly loved Frisk. That was more important than escaping... right? To kill the people you love, the people that love you, purely because their mere existence prevents you from being free, was work for demons. It was wrong.

Then, after the conflict with Toriel was resolved, Frisk met with Flowey. Confident that nothing had changed, Frisk approached Flowey.

"Clever. Verrrryyyy Clever." Immediately, that feeling of confidence melted away, and Frisk was filled with a modicum of fear. Clever...? What was clever? What had Frisk done, and why was Flowey sarcastically claiming it was clever? Frisk didn't like the feeling of this situation at all.

"You think you're Real smart, don't you?" Flowey asked condescendingly. "In this world... it's Kill. Or be Killed. So you think you were able to play by your own rules." His smile twisted into something grotesque. "You spared the life of a... single... person..." Flowey laughed, causing Frisk's stomach to fill up with a heavy feeling. Something grotesque, and menacing. A feeling of heavy dread.

Flowey laughed at Frisk's face, as it seemed to be contorting into something of a look of disgust, and massive discomfort "Awwww what's the matter? You look like you're about to DIE. Is it that you think I know what you did?" That feeling in Frisk's stomach dropped like an anvil, now, making Frisk feel sick. Flowey's face transformed into something of a mock-up of Toriel's face. "You. Murdered. Her." He said, mimicking Toriel's voice.

He continued, "And then, you went back, because you regretted it, didn't you?" That face starting to melt away, losing its composure, in the same way Toriel's face had begun to become deformed, and terrifying in her final moments. "Ha... ha... ha... ha..." Flowey imitated her dying breaths, as laughter. Frisk felt beyond sick. Every last join in their body was aching, uncomfortable, like every inch of Frisk's skeleton was begging to crawl out of their skin, to be free from its mortal prison.

Flowey grew larger, his face contorting into a grotesque grin. "You naive idiot. Do you think you're the ONLY person with that power? The power to reshape the world based purely on your determination? The ability to PLAY GOD!?" A short pause, as Flowey shrunk back into a smug smile. "I thought I was the only one, too. But... I can't SAVE anymore." He narrows his eyes at Frisk "Apparently, your desire for this world, overpowers mine. Heheheh... Well, enjoy that power while you can. I'll. Be. Watching. You." Flowey cackled, before shrinking into the grass below, and disappearing.

Frisk was frozen. Paralyzed. They knew Flowey was knowledgeable, that Flowey had knowledge beyond the trappings of their current existence. But, that Flowey could recall things that happened both before, and after, saves? That was horrifying. And it meant that nothing Frisk did, or would ever do, could be a secret. That uneasy feeling in Frisk's gut would stay there. A feeling of guilt, that they would carry with them for the rest of this journey, and likely, for every journey afterward.


	3. Chapter 3 - Small Shock

Some time had passed. 10 journeys later, to be precise. It was at this point, that frisk had, mostly, gotten over the events that happened. Though, that heavy feeling of guilt never went way. It still weighed heavily in Frisk's stomach. A reminder that Frisk had done something terrible, and could never take it back. They frequently tried to reason with themselves, they'd loaded their save, they'd fixed it, right? Everything was back to normal, they reset everything.

But, some lingering nagging thought always kept coming back. 'What if you didn't fix anything?' And it always brought Frisk back to that sick feeling. That guilt always lingering in their stomach. And only a couple journeys back, they'd begun hearing voices. Or... a single voice. Whispering to them from the back of their mind, their musings unintelligible. Even now, 11 journeys later, as they awoke in the yellow flowers once more, the guilt sat with them, and that voice whispered quietly. They moved onward, Determined that this journey should be the last one. That, finally, they may get their happy ending to stick. They met with Flowey, who went about his normal spiel, teaching the new Human about the underground, as if Frisk didn't know everything already, and was eventually blown away by the fire magic of a motherly goat woman.

Toriel came in to the rescue, moving swiftly to Frisk's side. Frisk's head began to hurt at that moment, as Toriel said something Frisk couldn't quite understand. Frisk turned their head up, to look at Toriel, and ask, and then... their entire body was filled with dread beyond words. Frisk's eyes shot wide open, and their entire body was covered in goosebumps. They stepped back, uncertainly, beginning to hyperventilate, as their stomach churned.

What they saw, wasn't the loving face of a mother, but the twisted, retched face of that same goat woman. A horrifying perversion, what would have looked at home on the flower previous, but only served to make Frisk's entire body freeze. This corrupt visage peered at Frisk, with a twisted, pained smile, slowly tilting its head, and folding its hands in front of it.

"Did you come to kill me, Human?" Toriel retched, her voice coming out less like anything human, or even monster-esque, but instead, sounding like some kind of eldritch horror croaking. She took a single step towards the human, as Frisk took another step back, its head tilting the other way "Have you come to end me...?" She croaked again, vocalizing in that sickly tone.

Frisk's whole body was shuddering in terror, their insides were doing cartwheels, And without a second more of thought, Frisk tried to make for a dash, to get away from this perverted facsimile of a motherly figure, only to trip over themselves, and fall back on the ground. They quickly picked themselves back up, turning over onto their hands and knees, and their joints locked. That heavy feeling of guilt was pounding in Frisk's stomach, and without a warning, it began to force its way up, through Frisk's throat.

Whatever contents were previously in Frisk's stomach, were now strewn across the ground, mostly water. They were left a shuddering, heaving mess, their breaths coming out in wheezes, as their body labored to take in the appropriate amounts of oxygen, to continue functioning, after what they saw. And then, they tried to throw up again, dry, their body not having much of anything to give to the dirt below them.

Toriel gasped, as the human began throwing up, and heaving, gasping, and wheezing. Without much hesitation, she quickly strode to the human's side, and knelt down beside them "Oh, dear, little one! What on earth did that creature do to you?" She reached out, placing a hand on the human's back, in an attempt to be comforting, and kind. She gently began to stroke the human's back, in an attempt to comfort them.

That hand felt like needles, stabbing and pricking at Frisk's back. In reflex, sensing they were in danger, Frisk pushed away at the soonest opportunity, still gasping, and scrambled away from Toriel's hand. "S-STAY AWAY!" They screeched between gasping breaths, clutching their chest as their heart was going crazy.

Toriel blinked, when the human scrambled away, and quickly raised her hands, palms open to the human, a gesture of harmlessness "Ah! Please, do not be afraid, innocent one!" She smiled warmly, continuing to try and be as unimposing as she can "I know that we monsters are... quite large, and scary. We've always been bigger than your kind. But I mean you no harm. I wish only to help you, my child. Please, won't you come with me?" She reached out with one of her hands, palm up, towards the human.

It took Frisk a moment, watching, and listening to Toriel. Whatever had happened... it wasn't real. It wasn't Toriel. They brought an arm up, and rubbed at their face, and their eyes, before blinking a few times, and looking at Toriel, to make sure everything was normal, before slowly making to stand up. Their heart rate returning to normal, it seemed Frisk was... not in harm's way. They took Toriel's hand, and continued through the ruins with the mother figure, as normal.

Well. Mostly normal.


	4. Chapter 4 - Fallen

That was far from the last time it would happen. Throughout the rest of Frisk's journey through the Ruins, Frisk was haunted by things Toriel never said. Or would never say. Requests for death. Release from this world. Frisk would be repeatedly creeped out, or scared by such small incidences. But, no scare had quite the same effect twice. Eventually, Frisk just got used to it, asking Toriel to repeat herself, if something came out incorrectly. Granted, it still gave Frisk the chills, and goosebumps, but... it was never quite so frightening again.

Frisk, often, would ask Toriel to repeat what she'd said, and Toriel happily obliged, assuming the young human was simply hard of hearing, and had anxiety issues.

Eventually, Frisk left the ruins, and continued on with their journey. 10 more times. 21 times. 37 times more. And those thoughts about killing monsters would come back, sure as the light of day. And this time, Frisk tried Papyrus. The monotony of time, and the growing negative feelings towards their trappings, made this easier, but still heavy on the heart. This time, however, Frisk was able to avoid loading. And would continue onward, despite the feeling of that wad in their stomach getting heavier.

And then, on another run, it was Undyne's turn. Undyne's unending hatred for humans made it much easier than killing Papyrus. Even knowing that Undyne could, with potential, become Frisk's closest friend, wasn't enough to force Frisk to load, and undo that murder. But the guilt only got heavier.

Then, Mettaton. Then, Asgore. Heavier, and heavier. But Frisk didn't notice it much anymore. Over time, Frisk grew accustomed to the feeling of a heavy heart, laden with guilt. None of these monsters deaths, however, brought Frisk to a happy ending. Because, without a Boss Monster soul, the human would die upon contact with the barrier, and wake up in that bed of yellow flowers once again. The smell of asters heavy.

It wasn't over. As Frisk progressed forward, the voice whispering at the back of their mind got louder, and louder. Still unintelligible, but very much noticeable now. Each kill brought Frisk less, and less guilt. The guilt was slowly being replaced with... something else. Adrenaline, perhaps. Or Determination. Killing monsters began to become a completely detached action. A mechanism. Testing the depths of terrible things that needed to happen, before a true ending could be achieved.

Frisk finally, after killing all of their other friends once, tried again with their loving mother, Toriel. It still hurt so much, but it wasn't nearly as sickening. Frisk moved on, finding this ending held no release. Then, it became a series of experiments, as Frisk went around, and killed combinations of two monsters each. Then, three. Then, all of the boss monsters. Before long it became clear that the secret didn't lie in killing Papyrus, Toriel, Undyne, Muffet, or Mettaton. Perhaps there were monsters that hid from Frisk. So, Frisk hunted down the farthest reaches of the underground, to find other boss monsters. Glyde. So Sorry.

Eventually, it came down to the minor monsters. Ice Cap. Arron. Shyren. The temmie. Pyrope. On, and on, Frisk went down the tunnel. It wasn't until the 1482nd journey, that Frisk discovered that, they could kill enough monsters in any given area, that no monsters would show up again. More experiments, clearing only one section between boss monsters, then combinations of two, or all. Then all, and only some boss monsters.

What seemed like centuries later, in Frisk's eyes, it finally came down to an actual Genocide. A quest to kill every monster in the Underground. It was at this point, that Frisk had become so emotionally detached in what they were doing, that everything was just coming down to statistics. How quickly were they able to kill certain monsters, making mental note of just how quickly they could kill every monster in an area, making a game of clearing The Ruins, Snowdin, and Waterfall as quickly as possible.

The first road block, was Undyne. More particularly, Undyne the Undying. Frisk counted 72 tries, before finally laying the passionate warrior to waste. They expected a harder fight from Mettaton, and got nothing. And then, it came down to the judgment hall. The fight with Sans. This one took... significantly longer than Undyne. At least 300 tries. Imagine the anger, and embarrassment that Undyne would go through, if she were ever told that Sans killed the human more times than she did?

And that... that was when Frisk could no longer act of their own volition. Not that they think they would have done things differently, at this point. They were dedicated to their course of action. They marched upon Asgore, and killed him swiftly, without mercy, watching his soul shatter. And, lastly, cut Flowey down to nothing. And then, without hesitation, walked into the barrier alone, letting the embrace of death take them.

And then... nothing. No flowers. Frisk didn't wake up.

Frisk... never lost consciousness. Painless descent into a simple darkness, where there were no sounds, beyond the true sound of silence.

 _Thump-ump_. The sound of a distant, but loud heartbeat broke the silence in the darkness, and Frisk looked around this black void for the source. But it sounded like it had come from all directions.  
 _Thump-ump_. The heartbeat came again. This time, a pair of glowing red eyes pierced the darkness. Followed by the visage of a human. Approximately the same height, and age as Frisk. They were wearing a green, and yellow sweater.

"Greetings." They said, but their voice never came. Instead, it was more like a whisper at the back of Frisk's mind. The same whispers that had started to gather while the guilt in Frisk's stomach had ruminated at first. Frisk's entire being chilled, from the inside out, at hearing that. Because it was much like hearing something you didn't hear at all. "I am Chara?." They whispered, again.

That name... it felt familiar. And yet, at the same time, it wasn't just one name. It was thousands of names, all whispered at the same time.

"Thank you. Your power awakened me from death. My... "human soul". My "determination". They were not mine, but yours." There was a short pause, but every microsecond of silence felt like an eternity. Time, here, was dilated beyond human perception.  
"At first, I was so confused." they started, "Our plan had failed, why was I brought back to life?" Another pause, "You. With your guidance, I realized the purpose of my reincarnation. Power. Together, we eradicated the enemy, and became strong."

This, Chara?., then spoke of some things that Frisk did not exactly understand. Numbers. Letters. Statistics. Like the ones Frisk had started keeping on how quickly they could get from point A to point B, Frisk assumed. This was all so bizarre. This... this was the first human, wasn't it? The one that the monsters of Underground had called... Chara. The human they'd heard Asriel talking to in those home tapes. The one that was long dead.

"There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world, and move on to the next."

Erase this world, and... move on to the next? That... it sounded like a familiar action, but at the same time... that sounded completely... wrong. It wasn't the same, not by a long shot. It made Frisk squirm. Except, Frisk couldn't. Frisk, here, did not have a body. A thought began to ring out in Frisk's mind. Echoing over, and over, and over, getting louder, until finally...

"NO!" The word reverberated strongly. With all the will, and determination Frisk could muster.

There was a short pause, again like an eternity passing.

"No...?" The whispers responded. "Hmm... how curious. You must have misunderstood." The figure before Frisk began to slowly melt, their eyes becoming great expanses of black tar, but that devious smile never fading. "SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?"


	5. Chapter 5 - Alone

_Authors note: Imagine, every time you read 'Eternity' sitting still, staring at blackness for 10 minutes. And for every 10 minutes, imagine Frisk is waiting for 10 years, or 10,000 years. The time these 'Eternities' take up isn't measurable. They are simply massive periods of time passing in narrative._

* * *

Black. Darkness. Nothingness. Emptiness.

Frisk... sits through this void for an eternity... waiting for something to happen. Waiting for something to exist.

And then it does.

"Interesting... you want to go back. you want to go back to the world you destroyed." Thoughts rush through what could only be called Frisk's consciousness. _No. I didnt destroy it. It wasnt me. It was you. You did this. You did all of this. I love my friends. I loved everyone._

"It was you who pushed everything to its edge. It was you who led the world to its destruction. But you cannot accept it." _I didnt do this! You forced me to! I just wanted to live with my friends on the surface._

"You think you are above consequences." _No_

"Then what are you looking for?" _I want my friends back. I want my life back. Give it back to me!_

"Perhaps... we can reach a compromise." _C... compromise?_

"You still have something I want. Give it to me. And I will bring this world back." _Y-yes! Anything. Ill give you anything you want. Just... just bring them back!_

"Then it is agreed. You will give me your SOUL." _Wh-what!? My soul? N-no! You cant have that! Thats not for you to take!_

Silence. An eternity passes. It feels longer than all the time that has ever existed in the universe. And yet, it is only an instant. It is a length of time so long that it is incomprehensible to humans. And yet, only an instant.

"You will give me your SOUL." _I said no! You cant have my soul!_

Silence. Another eternity.

"You will give me your SOUL." _Please, just bring it all back! Im sorry! I never wanted this to happen!_

Silence. Another eternity. Alone.

"You will give me your SOUL." _Stop... stop, just stop! I dont to do this anymore... Its so lonely... Im so lonely!_

Silence. But no longer. Frisks's thoughts echo into eternity, crying for their friends to come back.  
 _Toriel! Sans! Papyrus! Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton! Asgore! Please! Someone help me..._  
An eternity passes.

"You will give me your SOUL." _I just want to see my friends again!_  
An eternity passes.

"You will give me your SOUL." _Please!_  
Eternity.

"You will give me your SOUL." _PLEASE..._  
Eternity.

"You will give me your SOUL." _Anything..._  
Eternity.

"You will give me your SOUL." _Y...Yes... fine... you can have my soul, just... please, let me see my friends again..._  
"... Then, it is done."


	6. Chapter 6 - Reunited

The smell of yellow flowers fills Frisk's nostrils, as they regain consciousness. For the longest time, they lay there, in the single ray of sunlight from above, among the flowers. Frisk tries to open their eyes, and it takes what feels like hours just to surmount this basic task. Their eyes are filled with light, and color, as though they had never seen before. Beautiful color. Luscious vegetation.

They breathe in, inhale, as though it is the first breath they have ever taken. They breathe! Something... something deep inside aches. It's their heart, sputtering to life, finally pumping blood to every corner of their body. Finally, Frisk finds the fortitude to flow! Frisk's fingers move first, clutching the dirt below, and pushing themselves gently from the ground.

So long... so long away from their body, and they've forgotten what it feels like to be alive. Finally, Frisk sits up, and sits on their ankles, knees curled underneath them. They can feel the warmth of the sun above. and... they begin to cry.

Not of sadness. Not out of despair. But out of happiness. Despite everything, they are happy again. Frisk scrambles to their feet, in only a few moments, and begins to sprint down the hallway, skipping, and tripping here, or there, but keeping their footing anyways. They turn the corner hard, and dash into the room with-

There's no Flowey. Frisk stops in their tracks, the crying cutting out immediately, as Frisk realizes... Flowey is gone. Why is Flowey gone? Could.. could it be that Flowey is permanently dead? Flowey... the one character, besides Frisk, themselves, and Sans, who were able to remember, even remotely, events between timelines, was... dead. Gone.

The implications of this ran wild in Frisk's mind, briefly. But before they could contemplate much further, Toriel's figure appeared on the other end of the room. And Frisk made a mad dash for her, leaping into her arms, and embracing her tightly.

Toriel was... taken aback, to put it lightly. This human, she'd never even met, had just run up, and hugged her so passionately, without even introducing themselves. She slowly brought her hands around the human, and embraced them back. "Oh my, small one... aren't we affectionate?" She blinked a bit, when she noticed her robes were starting to get wet, where the human had hugged her. "H-human... Are you crying?"

Toriel quickly knelt down, setting the human on the ground, and placing her hands on the human's shoulders. "What is wrong, little one? What is the matter? Did someone hurt you?"

Frisk just frantically shook their head, tears still pouring from their eyes, and hugged Toriel again, this time around the neck, burying their face into Toriel's fur. "No, I... nobody hurt me, m-mom, I'm..." Their voice began to crack, as their throat clenched "I'm just so happy to see you!" They began sobbing into Toriel's neck.

Toriel was... confused, to say the least. The human had only just met her, and was already calling her mom. "What a strange child... Come, human." Toriel lifted the human up off the ground, then, giving them support, and cradling them. "To call an old woman 'mother' without even talking to her..." she chuckled "But... if that is what you wish, I am proud to be it, my child. Come."

Frisk was glad to be lifted, and did not mind being carried. And they were carried all the way back to HOME. They knew that they shouldn't be so reckless. 'I'm happy to see you', like Toriel had ever met the human before. But, Frisk just didn't care anymore. Hundreds, thousands of times they'd made this journey, in hundreds of different ways, thousands of times they'd pretended, callously, even on the pacifistic journeys, that they'd never met the monsters before.

And then, an eternity. An immeasurable infinity of time alone, in isolation... they didn't care anymore, if the monsters knew they'd met the human before. If they knew the human met them, before. They loved all of their friends so much, that it wouldn't matter, in the end. They clung to Toriel tightly, as they were taken HOME again.

Frisk slept like a rock. Then, joined Toriel to eat a Snail Pie. It didn't matter that it wasn't Butterscotch Cinnamon this time. They got to eat it with Toriel. They sat in Toriel's lap, as Toriel read them a book they'd read a hundred times, themselves, but enjoyed every minute of it, regardless. When it came time to leave, that was, perhaps, the hardest. Not only for Toriel, but for Frisk, as well. Frisk did not want to leave.

"Mom... I want to go see my friends." Frisk began.

This confused Toriel. "Your... friends, my child?" She'd look down from the book she was reading, at Frisk, eyes bewildered "What friends? Do you mean the monsters of the ruins? You may see them any time you like, as long as you-"

"No. I mean... out there." Frisk pointed in the direction of the rest of the Underground. "I want to see my friends in Snowdin... and Waterfall, and Hotland."

Toriel was even further bewildered. That Frisk knew the names of these places, but had never been beyond this house, and Toriel had not told Frisk of these places. She closed her eyes, and shut her book, setting it aside. "Please. Stay here, my child. There is something I must do."

"Mom, wait." Frisk took off after Toriel, following her closely "I know you care about me deeply. I understand. But I have to go, okay?" Toriel wouldn't hear it. "Please don't destroy the doors. I must leave. I have to see everybody."

The rest... happened much as you might have imagined it would. A heartfelt fight, between a pacifist, and their worrying mother. Frisk would burn, and hurt. And it hurt more than ever, after spending so long feeling nothing. Frisk would continue to plead, and to spare Toriel from even the smallest of blows. And Toriel would continue to unleash blaze of fire magic after blaze. But, in the end, Toriel realized she had to let Frisk go. They had their heartfelt last moments. And Frisk was exiled from the Ruins, to begin their journey anew.

Everything... everything was all so familiar. It was all the same. And yet, this was all so different. After all that Frisk had done, they'd never felt so powerfully about every last thing they were doing. Every emotion was a hundred fold. Every inconvenient pain was nearly an agony. The heartbreak of leaving Toriel alone again, after such a long time wishing they could be there for Toriel, it wrenched Frisk's heart harder than ever before. But the sting of the cold reminded them, that they must go on. They had more friends to make, after all.


	7. Chapter 7 - Brotherhood

Frisk stared out at the snow. The white expanse of forest before them was... so familiar. And yet, it felt like the first time they'd ever seen it. This wasn't the same place they'd traversed so many times. and yet, it was. They set off onto the snowy path, making their way for Snowdin, through the Snowdin forest.

Frisk shuddered a little, as the cold nipped at their skin, through their clothes. It wasn't like they were dressed for winter. They wrapped their arms around themselves, and gently rubbed at their sides. They passed a few sticks, some forgettable snow, and finally came to the bridge, with the too-wide fence. They knew what was coming, now, and they waited quietly, as a skeleton creeped up behind them.

Frisk felt their insides tensing up, getting physically excited for the fact that Sans was behind them, and before Sans even said a word, they spun around, and lunged at Sans, throwing their arms around his neck, and hugging him tightly. "Sans!" They cried.

To say the least, Sans was... a little shocked. One hand held out to the side, and his eye glowing, he'd been about to activate his blue magic. He was visibly shaking. Sans... had woken this morning from a terrible nightmare. And when the kid lunged at him like that, things had gotten too real, too quickly. But, the kid was hugging him, not attempting to kill him. As much as he didn't trust it exclusively, he gently pat the kids back.

"you know me, huh?" He muttered, closing one eye. "heh. weird. can't say that we've met. i'm sans. sans the skeleton." He slid his hands into his pockets, despite the human still hugging him.

Frisk let go, shortly after, and nodded some. "I know." They said, causing sans to raise an eyebrow at the human, before shrugging.

"so, you new around here, kid? you seem to know a lot already, if you know something so obscure as my name." Sans narrowed his eyes lazily at the human, watching them.

"Let's just..." Frisk began, trying to think of an innocuous way to phrase this. "Say... we used to be good friends. And this isn't my first rodeo." Frisk rubbed their arm gently, looking away.

"good friends, huh? hope i didn't give you a bad time." The skeleton closed his right eye, peering at the human, analyzing, looking for... something.

Frisk simply shook their head, as if to signal that Sans hadn't given them a bad time. It was a lie. But, they weren't going to start trouble here, and now. Not with Sans. To this, Sans simply shrugged.

"well, alright then. guess we're on good terms. hey. you wanna say hi to my brother?" Sans began, and Frisk would nod excitedly, before walking across the bridge, that they knew they could get through. Sans followed slowly, keeping an eye on the human. He... was cautious, to say the least. _Bad dreams usually arent something hed dismiss._

Papyrus would show up not long after, and Frisk, instead of hiding behind the conveniently shaded lamp, would dash to Papyrus, and leap up on him, giving him a hug. "Papyrus!" They cried, clinging to his battle body.

Papyrus gasped, mitts to his cheekbones. "OH MY! A HUMAN! AND THEY KNOW MY NAME? SANS! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE!? DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS?!"

Sans just shrugged "sorry, bro. they knew my name without me introducing myself, so i figured they were just a really weird looking monster." His eyes lidded, as he watched Papyrus trying to pry Frisk from his battle body. Frisk refused to be separated, however.

"HUMAN!" Papyrus cried "IF YOU DO NOT LET GO, I WILL BE FORCED TO CAPTURE YOU, WITHOUT LETTING YOU TRAVERSE ANY OF THE PUZZLES I HAVE PAINSTAKINGLY MADE IN ORDER TO CAPTURE YOU!" He continued, continuing to attempt to peel the human off.

"I don't care!" Said Frisk. And just as Papyrus was about to make a comment on the human's lack of appreciation for puzzles, Frisk continued "I've already done them more times than I can count! And I already know I love every last one of them, even the one you messed up!" They held tight. "I don't want to do puzzles anymore! I just wanna go back to your place, and eat spaghetti, and listen to you talk about cool stuff!"

Papyrus was given reason for pause at that moment. The human had already completed the puzzles? And... The human liked Spaghetti? Papyrus's face lit up "TH... THE HUMAN LIKES MY SPAGHETTI?" Papyrus lit up like a Christmas tree. "WOWWIE! AND I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWED THEM MY COOKING! COULD IT BE? AM I... POPULAR? HAVE I ASCENDED TO THE RANKS OF WELL KNOWN SPAGHETTORES, WITHOUT KNOWING ABOUT IT?" Papyrus began rubbing his cheeks, as though to staunch a blush. Of course Papyrus was the type to accept that Frisk knew all about him, without thinking twice of it.

"OH... OH MY! NYEHEHEHEHEH! VERY WELL, HUMAN! FOR BRINGING ME THE NEWS OF MY WIDESPREAD FAME AMONGST THE HUMANS, I SHALL SPARE YOU, UNDER ONE CONDITION!" A short pause, as Papyrus didn't have a condition thought up. "WHEN... WHEN WE FINALLY MAKE IT TO THE SURFACE, YOU, HUMAN, SHALL BE MY PUBLIC RELATIONS AGENT!" Papyrus patted the human's back. "GLORIOUS! ONWARD! TO MY HOUSE!"

And onward they went. Past the traps, and puzzles, Papyrus, Sans, and Frisk strolled into Snowdin, and into Papyrus's home, where Frisk would be treated to a nearly constant onslaught of Spaghetti. Some of it great, some of it... not... so... great. Or, in fact, very not great. But, it didn't matter. Frisk was, once again, spending time with friends. Listening to Papyrus's tales of greatness, and enjoying the warmth of accompaniment. Frisk wasn't even remotely annoyed by papyrus, as they'd found themselves on their many excursions through the underground before.

This stop, too, would end soon, however. Frisk wanted, so much, to stay, and exchange bad jokes with Sans, and eat Papyrus's spaghetti for ages, but... despite this desire, there was so much that needed to be done.

"I need to see King Asgore." Frisk said simply. "It's... it's a matter of Duty. I don't know if I'd be able to explain it properly, but... I want to prevent something really bad from happening." They nibbled at their lip. "I hope you understand."

Papyrus, of course, was ever understanding. "OF COURSE, HUMAN. ER..." Papyrus seemed reluctant for a moment, before starting. "ONE... SMALL PROBLEM."

"Undyne?" Frisk asked. Papyrus twiddled his thumbs. "Don't worry. I know how to handle Undyne." Frisk looked from Papyrus, to Sans, who was just listening at the moment. When he noticed the human's eyes on him, he shrugged.

"hey, you do you, kiddo. you don't seem like the type to **flounder** about."

"I... I WILL TRY TO SPEAK TO UNDYNE. SHE HAS CALLED FOR A MEETING WITH ME. HERE, HUMAN. THIS IS MY NUMBER. CALL ME ANY TIME." He hands Frisk a slip of paper. "IN THE MEANTIME, I'LL-" Papyrus stopped, and squinted for a moment, before turning to Sans "SANS! THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR PUNS!"


	8. Chapter 8 - Reflections

Frisk stood at the edge of Snowdin, where the snow met with the caverns of Waterfall, hand gently pressed to their chest, as they contemplated things. The way forward, they knew well. They could probably traverse these caves blindfolded, at this point. And yet, everything was so... different.

Or, not... different. But it felt new again. But, with a heavy helping of familiarity. It was like re-discovering something you'd missed for a long time. It probably had a lot to do with the amount of time Frisk spent... not being nice. Or that eternity of nothingness. Frisk had felt empty, and alone for so long, that even having a body again felt like they weren't alone. Their body almost felt like a separate entity, that they could relate to.

Without much more thought put to it, Frisk walked through the threshold, from Snowdin to the caves of Waterfall, thinking themselves ready, willing, and lucky, to be away from the cold air of that snowy den. The first place they came to, was the guard post between Snowdin, and waterfall. A few monsters sat around, doing their own things, and speaking to the human when spoken to, but the point of interest, was the guard post, with a grinning skeleton leaning on it.

"hey, kiddo. havin' fun?" Sans asked, watching the human approach.

Frisk bit their lip, before shaking their head. "It's not about fun. Plus, I just left you back in Snowdin, it's not like anything's changed from there, to here."

Sans chuckled a little bit, in response to that "hey, you can't blame me for askin'. tell ya what, though. why don't we head back into snowdin, for lunch at grillby's? you look famished." Said a skeleton, to a human who'd just had a plate of Spaghetti. But, Frisk knew what was up. They nodded, and the two of them took their shortcut.

Nothing different this time around, they took their seats, and briefly conversed. Frisk ordered a Hamburger. And, just as they were about to try and eat their hamburger, time seemed to slow around themselves, Sans.

"I had a dream last night." Sans said, his tone completely serious, which caught Frisk a little off guard. Frisk blinked a little bit, setting the hamburger down. "It was... different. From the other dreams I've been having." He continued. He looked side-long at Frisk. "It was more of a nightmare, actually. I dreamt that a human came to the underground... and killed everyone."

Frisk's heart stopped hearing that, and they could feel their entire body grow cold, then.

"It was hopeless. I fought against them for the longest time, but. It seemed the kid knew my every move. My every attack, my movements. Everything I was going to do, before I even knew what I was going to do." He turned his attention back away from the human, and just stared forward, now. "It was hopeless. I was doomed to die, like all the other monsters of the Underground had before me.

"I don't remember what they looked like. But, then I wake up, and go to my guard duty, and I meet a human who claims to know who I am. Pretty strange, right?" He looks to Frisk, who is shaking violently, now. Frightened. Scared, chilled down to the very bone. Sans lets out a chuckle that doesn't sound entirely right. "Well. There's no way you, and that human are the same one. It was just a dream. And... you'd never hurt a fly, would you?"

Time began to resume its normal flow, as Sans finished his speech. He poured some ketchup into his jaw, before moving to stand up. "well. It was nice talkin' to ya, kid. but i gotta get back to work. i can't believe i let you take me away for so long." He pulled out some G, and paid for the meal. Something Sans had never done before. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he left.

Frisk sat there for a few moments, shivering in terror, dead engulfing their entire being for a short few moments. It took a lot of effort not to throw up, as all the negativity, and pain, that had come with the last adventure's actions, came flooding back. But, now... they knew, for a fact, their actions still held consequences. Which brought a lot of things into question.

They weren't hungry anymore. They asked Grillby to bag theirs, and sans's orders, so they could carry Sans's out to him. And, the order was later refused by sans, telling the human to keep it.

Onward, Frisk walked, through the winding darkness, and bioluminescent light of the Underground. Alone, with their thoughts. Alone with their mind running wild, now. For Sans to have that dream... that meant that this had to be, in essence, the same world as the one that had been destroyed. Which meant Chara either never destroyed the world in the first place, or Chara really was capable of destroying, and recreating worlds entirely. Which was scary. But... it implied much more.

These thoughts were briefly interrupted by Undyne attacking Frisk, while crossing a... peculiarly shaped bridge. Why anyone would curve a bridge in such a way was completely beyond them, and even in their thousands of adventures, they'd never gotten a good reason for it. On the other side, the armless monster kid intercepted an attack from Undyne, and was ecstatic about it. Gathering a Nice Cream cone, they walked on, into the section of Waterfall with the glowing water, and took a few moments to observe the water. It was lovely.

Frisk really wasn't free from consequence. For so long, they'd gone on their adventures as a pacifist, entirely evoiding harming, or killing anyone. They'd done true reset, after true reset, and never seen the effects each successive adventure could have on the next. And even when they did, they hadn't been paying attention, as they'd just gotten into the flow of doing it to do it.

Oh. Hello Onionsan. A short encounter with the sea beast took Frisk's mind off of things, yet again. Soon after, a short concert with Shyren, and a piano puzzle. Those school-mandated music lessons back in Elementary school were sure proving useful. The ancient artefact was stolen by the white dog, and Frisk would wave goodbye. Frisk then ran into the kid without arms. They wanted to tag along with Frisk, as Frisk had grabbed an umbrella. Frisk was okay with this. Though the monster kid was talking to Frisk, Frisk was trapped in their own thoughts.

Each reset carried something with it, from timeline to timeline, unless it was a TRUE reset. But, what could Frisk have possibly brought with them from the previous timeline? It was clear that something was different, that this wasn't a true reset. Either Sans could always carry memories from timeline to timeline like that, which made a modicum of sense, because he'd talked about timelines jumping around, during that fight. Or, Sans could only carry memories between untrue resets, which made more sense, because... it wasn't until Frisk had started doing adventures in which they actually kill at least one monster, that things had started making even minute changes.

That was when Frisk caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of their eye. A puddle nearby looked... off. Or, it had for a brief moment. They walked over to the puddle, and the moment their reflection was shown, terror shot through their every inch. Of course! THAT was it! Both an important revelation, and possibly something truly terrifying. As Frisk stared into the puddle, they saw someone who looked like them. Wearing green, and yellow, rather than purple and blue. Someone with Determined red eyes.

Frisk... ran. The monster kid made for an excellent bridge up over the nearby ridge, and Frisk, screaming the whole way, sprinted as far as their legs would take them- And even further, it seemed, as Undyne made to attack them. Undyne's attacks, eventually, broke the pier Frisk was standing on, sending Frisk tumbling into the darkness.

Black. Silence. Where once, a memory that was not Frisk's might come... instead there was blackness. And then, a single phrase.

YOU. ARE. MINE.


	9. Chapter 9 - Judgement

No dreams. Nothing. Frisk simply awoke on the other side. Once again in yellow flowers, but this time, the patch growing amidst the Underground's garbage. They laid on their back, staring at the ceiling far above, their mind racing, as those words echoed in their mind. "You are mine". Those words that officially wrested all semblance of individuality from their hands, those words that confirmed, once and for all, that they were no longer alone. And not in a good way.

Frisk had battled with loneliness for what seemed like a million years, in that dark black void. To see this world brought back was such a great joy, that they hadn't even stopped to consider the consequences. What might be lurking in the dark, now. And... it was beginning to dawn on them. They actually gave their soul to that voice. To Chara. Chara owned everything they were. Everything they had. Everything they could ever be. And that was truly terrifying.

To know that some other consciousness was inside of your mind, and your thoughts, could see every last impulse that went through your mind, and was... lurking there. To know they were... in control. What Chara had said was floating around there. 'Since when were you in control?' Frisk closed their eyes, and the voice whispered.

 _Thats right._

Frisk cringed, and drew their arms across their stomach, squeezing themselves tightly. What did this mean, exactly? What did Chara want?

 _Freedom._

Freedom? If Chara had Frisk's soul, then... Chara could have Frisk's body. Right? In fact, Chara should. Why was Frisk still in control? Why didn't Chara just take it, and end this game?

There was no response from the voice. Not all answers would come so easily as asking, it seemed. That should have, honestly, been expected. Chara was at odds with this entity, even though they were forced to share a body, now. Frisk shuddered, but went lax, no longer clenching their muscles to squeeze themselves, closing their eyes.

"I don't like this..." Frisk muttered to themselves. After all, who could? It felt so out of place. Knowing that someone else really controlled you, and had complete ownership of your body, and soul. That they could take over any time, and yet... they weren't. The mystery of Chara's non-interference was a mind boggler. It was frustrating. Frisk groaned softly, before sitting up. It was time to move on, wasn't it? Sitting around thinking, and moaning about how uncomfortable all this was, wouldn't get them anywhere. They had to move.

The next few hours went as you might expect. A less-enthusiastic fight with a real dummy, a break from existential calamity with a lonely ghost, followed by some snail racing, a visit to a village of teM. A destined fight with a feisty fish, who almost got cooked, and a hot date, maybe a little too hot, that ended in flames.

And then, a few more hours, spent in the company of a nerdy lizard, fighting against the melodramatic Robotic showhost. This altrication went much as it always did, a series of short television snippets, conflicts between the human, and the robot, resulting in the stakes ever-rising, and viewership plummeting.

And then, a break. Frisk stands at the base of a tower, A monument to the robot they've been confronting over, and over. They were looking up at this impressive glowing monolith, when they began to approach. But as they took a few steps forward, they were brought to a halt, bringing their eyesight level. To the left, they spotted a familiar figure. A lazy blue-clad skeleton. He was standing in the dark, hands in his pockets, watching something up above.

Frisk watched for a short moment, before reluctantly approaching him. This conversation proceeded much as you'd imagine, an offer for a meal, an acceptance of said offer, and a disappearance into a shortcut, which didn't logically make any sense, and to a dining table. A one-sided conversation ensued, with Sans. And up until he mentioned that promise to toriel, it went largely as planned.

"ya know, i'm glad." He began, leaning forward, and staring at Frisk. "i'm really glad that dream of mine was just a dream, kiddo. if you were anything like that human, well. i'd have to break a really important promise." Frisk got visibly uncomfortable, at that point, every inch of them tensing up, and and holding onto their seat tightly. Sans narrowed his eyes at the human.

"eh? what's that look about? the food rotten, or somethin'?" There was no food. "i'll make sure to complain to the manager on my way out. anyway, i gotta go, kid." He hopped off of his seat, slipping his hands into his pockets. He was about to walk away, when Frisk called out to him.

"Wait... Sans..." Sans stopped, and looked at the kid over his shoulder. "... D... do you ever feel like... despite everything. You're not in control of your own actions? Like... at all?" They were still tense, now staring at the empty plate in front of them.

Sans's eyes widened briefly at that question, and his smile almost faltered. But he retained himself rather well. He turned his head away, and looked towards the wall in front of him, before bothering to respond to that question "Nah. Not at all. You're responsible for everything you've done." He walked away, then. Denying frisk the empathy they'd desired, and the solace that they wouldn't be able to find in him until much later.

The journey resumed, Frisk makes their way through the core, and to a final confrontation. Confronted with the robot on a stage, locked off from Alphys, who could no longer interfere. The robot is transformed! Into a humanoid shape, and the human must fight him in single... dance? It's a dance off, really. Zealous footfalls twist and turn, keeping the pace, viewership skyrocketing like never before. Almost every television in the Underground is tuned in, monsters across the entirety of the underground marvelling at the show. At long last, the dance ends, Frisk's skillful handling of the ratings ending the show before mettaton even has a chance to lose his arms!

Unfortunately, that doesn't spare Mettaton the horrifying fate of being out of energy. Frisk is permitted to move on. And move on, they do. They go to New Home. They collect the keys, and hear the story of the Underground once again. Finally, the judgement hall.

"just go." Sans said. Frisk blinked. "i can't stop you." Sans stared at the human. "dream, or no. you're either going to ruin this at the last minute, and kill our king, and i'm going to wake up like this never happened. or you're going to get us all outside, and everything will be happy, and we'll all go to bed one night, and wake up from a good dream, here. in the underground.

"LOVE doesn't matter anymore. you don't care about it. or us. you just want to toy with us forever. so, go. have your fun. i don't care anymore." Sans stepped out of the way, and disappeared, before Frisk could say anything back.


	10. Chapter 10 - Verdict

Frisk's heart was heavy. They stood at the bottom of a set of stairs, in some cellar, staring at a casket with Chara's name on it. Well, in theory, they were right. Despite the new human in the underground being themselves, Frisk, this casket, in the end, was really destined to finally put Chara to rest. That was, if Frisk died. But that never really happened, did it? Frisk gently caressed the wood casket, their other hand clenching their chest, as their heart wouldn't stop pounding.

Freedom. Chara wanted freedom. Chara had Frisk's soul. If that meant Chara could take Frisk's body whenever they wanted, it meant that escaping the underground would only give that demon what they wanted. To have free reign over the surface, and who knew what kind of terrible things they'd do once there. Frisk's heart got a little heavier thinking of that, and they could feel it choking them a little. They took a step away from the casket, and covered their mouth, closing their eyes, the hand clenching their chest crossing, instead, and squeezing.

Frisk had begun trembling. There had to be a way to prevent this. Right? Well, there wasn't really hope for that just yet. Frisk still had a little to do, before any more thoughts could be entertained. They went up to the king's chambers. To the barrier. A destined fight between human, and monster. A LOAD. And a retreat. A phone call from Undyne, and a trip to Snowdin. Back to Hotland.

A date with Alphys, that ends in romance evolving between the warrior betta, and the science dinosaur. True lab. Amalgamates. Keys. Flowers. The tapes. The memories. An admission of guilt from the dinosaur, and a promise to make things right. An elevator. An eerie call from a familiar voice Frisk has never heard before.

That fragmented voice, Chara's voice.  
 _The ritual is almost complete._

Frisk made their way back up to New Home, and the throne room. They had a plan. They had an idea. They were Determined to try something they'd never tried before. As they approached Asgore, he began to speak.

"Oh... Hello, human." Frisk didn't stop walking straight for Asgore, which ilicited a bit of a nervous response from the giant goat man. He began to sweat. "H-human, what're-" And then, he was cut off, by Frisk grabbing onto him, and hugging him tightly around the waist, face pressed against his stomach. Asgore didn't quite know what to do here.

"I'm not going to fight you, Asgore." Frisk said, their voice nearly breaking. These words alone shaking Asgore to the very bones. He looked down to the human that was holding onto him like their life depended on it. "I've already fought you more times than I can count. I've returned to the surface more times than I could ever desire, and nothing has ever come of it. I don't want to go to the surface anymore. I want to stay here!"

 _What are you doing._

Asgore stared at the human for a moment. He was shaking. His own chest was tight. He reached down to the human's shoulders, placing his hands on them, as he tried to process what the human said. The human had... been to the surface? And this cycle had no end. He had always had a vague understanding of what, exactly, goes on with the human. That the human was capable of incredible feats. He was ready to believe that the human had fought him already. And that he'd already succeeded in killing the human, but that the human would always come back. It was their Determination which allowed this.

"I can't take it anymore. I just want to stay down here. In the underground. I want to stay with you. And mom. And the other monsters. I want to stay with my friends!" Asgore had contemplated pushing Frisk away, but after hearing that, he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Tears were beginning to tug at his eyes. He shook his head a little bit, partly wanting to deny all of this, and get on with his duties, as king, to kill the human. But, instead, he'd attempt to separate the human long enough to kneel down, and wrap his arms around Frisk.

 _Stop this!_

Frisk felt Asgore embrace them, and burried themselves into him, hugging him tightly around the neck, now. Asgore sighed softly "I... I'm sorry, human... I just... I wanted to give the monsters hope. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I-"

"I know." Frisk interrupted. "You... didn't have any options."

Before long, it was brought to their attention that they weren't alone. Toriel approached the two, confused. She had been so certain that Asgore was going to try to kill the human. But, by the time she'd gotten here, they were embracing eachother instead. It had her shocked into silence, for a little while. But before long, she mustered up the courage to speak out.

"My... my child... are you..." A short pause, as Asgore would bolt up, and look to Toriel with wide eyes. She quickly stiffened, looking a lot more stern, and defensive. "Are you okay, my child?" She asked with a slightly more accusatory tone, the accusation directed at Asgore.

Frisk would let go of Asgore at that point, and look to Toriel, nodding faintly. Toriel would stride over to Frisk, and Asgore, and practically snatch Frisk away, getting defensive. But Frisk would move between Toriel, and Asgore, trying to show Toriel that everything was alright. Toriel looked between Asgore, and Frisk, untrusting, for a time. Until they were joined by Undyne, and Alphys. And Papyrus, and Sans. And even briefly, Mettaton. The meeting was brief, and in the end, Toriel asked Frisk to stay in the Underground with them.

Flowey... never showed up. He'd bothered Papyrus to gather all of frisk's friends, and come to the barrier. But, they weren't at the barrier. Asgore never took the souls out of their hiding place. And Flowey never got the opportunity to absorb any souls. The monsters, and Frisk, all returned to their homes. Frisk spent some time with Asgore, and Toriel, trying to help the estranged spouses fix what they'd lost. After all, they had a new child, again.

Time would pass. A month, perhaps. The Underground, no longer in turmoil, settled to accept their new Human as a blessing, that should be embraced. Thoughts of getting to the surface faded with time. Frisk would often spend time with Papyrus, patrolling the underground for... it couldn't be said. New friends? If any humans fell underground, now, the monsters would treat them as friends, rather than enemies.

Toriel and Asgore both returned to HOME in the ruins. Their relationship would never quite be exactly the same, but they'd come to at least a point at which Toriel was willing to live under a roof with the King, and developments might go from there. Her friendship with Sans, however, deepened, instigating frequent trips into Snowdin to make jokes with the skeleton. Asgore started a new garden in HOME, and even, through proper care, brought the tree in the Ruins courtyard back to life.

Undyne didn't quit the royal guard. It wasn't likely that any threats would come this way, any time soon. But with two Dreemurrs to protect, they couldn't be caught with their pants down. Alphys continued to do her research, invested in finding a way to break the barrier, that didn't include the use of 7 souls. In shorter terms... times were good. Everyone found some level of happiness.

And... that should have been a happy ending. Right?

 _This isnt over._


	11. Chapter 11 - NEW LIFE

( * ) If only...  
( * ) If only it were possible for the story to have ended there.  
( * ) It wasn't the ending everyone wanted. Nobody got to go to the surface.  
( * ) But it was a happy ending nonetheless. An ending of acceptance.  
( * ) The surface really wasn't that important to anyone, once they had a good friend.  
( * ) But you already knew this story didn't end there.

( * ) You couldn't let it go, could you?

* * *

Frisk felt the warmth of the hearth fire licking at them from one side, as they cuddled into the lap of a doting monster mother, who had settled into her reading chair. She was reading a book, quietly, to Frisk. A fantasy tale about monsters, and humans, getting along for once. Quite the departure from the reality they already knew. It was an old tale, from that period in the Underground just after Monsters were banished to the Underground, after Chara had arrived, but before their inevitable death. A time when Hope thrived among the monsters, of seeing the surface again. In fact, it was a time when monsters actually remembered what the surface looked like.

Frisk was listening intently, absorbing every word to come from their trusted monster mother's mouth, taking comfort from this exchange, in such a basic way. A deeper instinct relieving them of the many stresses of life. It was like being a child once more. Or, dare, for the first time?

Outside, a tall Dreemurr male worked tirelessly on breathing life into the area. It was his own fault, he supposed, that the vegetation here had wilted away, and died. This plot of land in the ruins was particularly infertile. And it took the green thumb of a master planter, to bring this soil to life. Over the couse of the past few months, he'd done just that. Turned the wispy, dry dirt, into dark, rich soil once again. The flora of the Underground had, soon, begun sprouting out of the ground, lining the walls in front of HOME with vines, and bushes, and surrounding the revived tree, with golden Asters once more.

Meanwhile, in Waterfall, an exercise troupe had set out for the day. A jaunty skeleton, hooting, and hollaring excitedly to his exercise buddies, one Royal Guard Undyne, and her unlikely lover, the Royal Scientist Alphys. All sporting running shorts, and shirts, and while Undyne and Alphys were wearing the appropriate number of sweatbands on their wrists, ankles, and foreheads, it seemed Papyrus had taken the liberty of applying far too many bands to himself, to increase his sweatbanding potential. A total of four around his head, one acting as a 'cool' eyepatch, while the others formed a barrier that would stop the sweatiest of heads in their tracks, the wristbands seeming to form vambraces in their numerosity. His legs, however, were free from sweatband mania.

The troupe stopped briefly, to take a break, as their smallest member was having an issue keeping up, which was pretty normal.

"WELL, IF YOU INSIST. I STOPPED BEING ABLE TO FEEL MY LEGS A WHILE AGO, SO IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO STOP AND MAKE SURE IT'S STILL MY LEGS ATTACHED THIS TIME."

With a short chuckle, Undyne would scoop the small lizard woman, that captured her heart, into her arms, and seat with her, against a wall. The lizard would squirm, flushing, and nervous, still uncomfortable with displays of affection where Papyrus could see(not that he really understood, anyways), until Undyne hushed her with a kiss, and a few pettings. The smaller scaled monster would relent, and enjoy the break time with her larger companion, while the opportunity was there.

Not too far away, in the Blook house, a robot laid upon a hardwood floor, with headphones on, listening quietly to his favorite cousin's newest piece. This had nearly become ritual since the Human came through, since getting that call from Blooky, about how dull, and sad his life was. Mettaton had become so deeply engulfed by his celebrity life, that he'd forgotten about the thing most important to him. In fact, he'd all but discarded Blooky in favor of the glamour life, and that phone call had shaken him so deeply to the core. He was giving back to his beloved cousin, now, showering him with affection, listening to every track the ghost made, and giving him key criticisms! After all, no truly blossoming artist can improve, without hearing their flaws, as well, right?

Meanwhile, the Amalgamates were integrating with society well. It was taking some getting used to, the fact that so many fathers, mothers, and other family members, were jam-packed into several single entities, but Monsters were loving, accepting creatures at heart. It was hard, if not impossible, for one of them to truly shun another monster, or even any other creature that existed, which made an immediate place for these Amalgamates to continue living their multitudes of previous lives together.

NEW HOME remained abandoned, now. The Royal household, not the capitol city beneath it. Only Asgore entering, and exiting, to take care of the flowers that still grew there. Well, Asgore and one other being- Flowey. It was a sort of a haven for the flower-y host to a royal child. Rather than staying at the bed of flowers where Chara's corpse had been burried, instead he spent his time hiding among the yellow flowers there, and searching the place head, to toe, for the souls Asgore hid. Not that he'd be able to open them up, and get to them anyways, if he ever did find them, but he wanted so desperately to get his revenge, still. To take the souls, and become a GOD.

With Flowey excluded, the underground had really fallen into a state of new peace. A time of rest, and relaxation. An idle hope bloomed among the monsters, not for the prospect of going to the surface, but a hope that they could, somehow, make living underground work again. A new company, led by a miniscule Minotauress was beginning to take form. The young entrepreneur had decided that gone were the days of the Underground's citizens waiting idly. It was time to deconstruct the stones of the underground's surroundings, and expand the great city of NEW HOME!

A new life was lit in the Underground. A new future was taking shape. And it was in the hands of the monsters to shape that future.

But, what was this shape taking form in Snowdin forest?


	12. Chapter 12 - A Gut Feeling

_Youve ruined everything._

Frisk shuddered a bit, blinking themselves awake. They had been relocated from Toriel's lap, at some point, to the bedroom specifically made for a monster's child. To be jolted awake by such a malicious concept, such as being the one who ruined anything... it was a bit disorienting. They hadn't been dreaming. Frisk had not, in fact, had a dream for many years, now. But they certainly felt like they'd been having a dream.

Suddenly, something inside Frisk jerked. Twisted painfully, before wrenching itself back into position. It was a familiar sensation, a filling, overflowing sensation, and yet... it was different this time. Sickening, and foreign, like someone was toying with Frisk's insides. It was the feeling of a SAVE being created.

 _Do you feel that?_

The voice inside asked. The voice of Chara. Frisk felt like puking, if that's what Chara meant. But it wasn't. It didn't take a genius to know that Chara was talking about the save. And they certainly didn't need a response from Frisk to know that Frisk had, indeed, felt it. Because Frisk heard laughter emitting from the void inside their mind. Chuckling, cackling, insidious laughter.

 _You. Ruined. Everything. But thats okay. If you wont give me what I want, Ill toy with you. Ill play with you, until you break._

Frisk sat up, then, and pushed themselves back in the bed, until their back made contact with the headboard, until they could curl up against it, and pull the covers close, as they curled inward. Their gut was still reeling from the feeling of a save happening against their will. And it wasn't like when Flowey did it, either. This felt more vile, and insidious.

When Flowey saved, it was uncomfortable, at best. But it never really affected Frisk in this way. Because Flowey had been using the determination of the other Human Souls to make those saves, it was different. It was someone else saving, someone else's determination, someone else's soul. This was Frisk's own soul being twisted to someone else's will. And it felt like some deeper violation of Frisks' being, on a spiritual level, when the physical pain was discounted from the equation.

The voice went quiet, leaving Frisk to that feeling all alone, until it finally faded away. Frisk could feel their entire body was nearly freezing cold, despite mostly being covered in a heavy blanket. Warmth was, however, slowly beginning to restore to their body, and once they no longer felt nearly as sick from it all, they'd unfurl, and stand up, to check on the rest of the household.

There was still this feeling of... uncertainty. And a mild feeling of dread pervading over Frisk, however. Like someting was wrong. Like something was perpetually wrong, beyond what they could know. It was just a feeling, but it was a heavy feeling that just couldn't be shook off. Like at any moment, the world was threatening to split at the seams. It was a hard feeling to quantify, or really even explain, even to one's self. Defining the essence of this feeling was like trying to describe a color you couldn't see.

Down the hallway, Frisk could hear laughter. A trio of individuals sharing a little revelry. As Frisk came around the corner into the living room, they'd see Asgore and Toriel in their respective armchairs, and a shorter human-sized skeleton pulled up in a chair beside Toriel. The two of them were telling puns back and forth, chaining wordplay together, to create a form of coherent conversation, with Asgore simply listening in on the banter from his chair, and chuckling at the antics.

The three of them were in the middle of enjoying a simoltaneous chuckle, when they finally noticed Frisk. Toriel smiled warmly, and gestured for Frisk to join them, with Asgore giving the human a short nod, before looking to the fireplace. Toriel spoke.

"Ah, you're awake, my child! Come, enjoy a joke or two with us! Perhaps you could even contribute to the conversation? Asgore is so bad at it, but we would very much enjoy having a third wheel!" Toriel explained chuckling.

Frisk grinned a bit, at being told that Toriel and Sans wanted a third wheel, but their grin began to fade a bit, when they noticed Sans had turned a bit, to look at them. It wasn't so much the look Sans was giving Frisk, or anything. It was just... a bad feeling. An ominous feeling residing in Frisk's gut, keeping Frisk at arm's length. Frisk brought a hand up to their mouth, and coughed into a fist, before crossing their arms over their chest.

"I, uh... I'd love to, but-"  
"hey tori, d'ya mind, actually, if i go have a talk to the kid alone?"

Frisk felt their spine chill, and go stiff at that suggestion.

"Of course I don't mind, Sans. I'll be right here when you two get back."

Sans turned fully, and slipped off of the chair he was on, walking over towards Frisk, eyes half lidded, as he slipped his bony fingers back into his pockets. Frisk was terrified. Frozen stiff. When Sans walked by, their body wanted to stand still, and stay here. But they found their feet working against them on this effort, pushing them to begin following Sans out of the living room, and out the front door, and into the garden. Frisk closed the door behind them, to keep the warm air of HOME inside, and the cool air of the ruins out.

"What're you planning, kid?"

Frisk felt something crawl up their back at that moment, as they wanted to cringe away from Sans. He was speaking 'like that' again. With that particular intonation, that tone.

"Are you just trying to taunt me? Is that it?" He starts, his left eye flickering to life, as he turns to stare at the human. "Just... enjoying your time, aren't you? Going from timeline to timeline... selectively killing off every monster. Working your way up, until one day, you kill us all. And now, you're playing friendly. Is this fun for you?"

Frisk couldn't speak. The lump in their throat was larger than they could squeeze any words around. So they didn't even open their mouth, in fear of saying nothing anyways. They simply stood there, continuing to look guilty.

"Listen, kid. I don't know what you think, but our lives aren't a game for you to play with. Scum like you... ought to be wiped out." Frisk winced. "There's no way I could ever be friends with someone like you. I'm watching, kid. Don't think I'll hesitate to destroy you, if you try anything again." His eye faded back into an empty socket, before the pin-prick white eye took its place again.

"i felt you saving just then. i know what you're up to."

Frisk stared at sans for a moment, as a chill hit them once again, rushing over them, and causing them to jerk briefly. The lump in their throat practically exploded, before relieving itself, as Frisk forced themselves to speak "N-no, Sans, I... I-I-I didn't-"

Frisk was cut off, by the world underneath them shifting violently. Everything began spinning rapidly, and became a blur, and then with a flash of light, the world went black. Frisk clutched their chest, their whole body revolting, their stomach churning violently. Unable to breathe, Frisk quickly grasped around in the dark, looking for something to hold onto, and ended up falling off of their bed, face-first into the carpeted ground below.

Frisk struggled onto their hands and knees, as their insides flipped, and emptied out of Frisk's mouth, onto the floor below. They gasped desperately for a breath, but were cut off, as a second torrent of innards became outards, piling on top of the previous bout of sick. Once that was done, Frisk found a breath.

 _Hahahahahahaha~! Suffer._


	13. Chapter 13 - HOME

Frisk could hardly walk after that... experience. Staggering, they made their way out of the room, and guided themselves along the hallway back towards the living room, to be greeted by the same scene as before. This time, however, it was Sans who spoke first.

"hey kiddo. welcome back. didja have a nice nap?" before realizing Frisk looked particularly sick. Not exactly what he was expecting, but knowing it could be an act, he pretended to get worried. "oh hey whoa, you're lookin' pretty rough there, kid. you okay?"

Frisk stared for a moment, before looking down at themselves. They'd been clutching one hand across their stomach since they stood up, which they hadn't really noticed themselves, but otherwise, they seemed clean. They wiped at their mouth, just to be sure, before realizing it didn't really matter. They were about to tell Toriel anyways, why be self-conscious about looking sick? Frisk coughed, before opening their mouth to speak. Then, stopped, pulling back a moment. Opening their mouth, purely with the intent to speak, had filled their gut with this nauseous feeling, that they didn't particularly feel like pushing through.

Closing their mouth tight, they shook their head lightly. Toriel didn't need to be asked, at this point. Without a word, she stood, and moved over to Frisk, kneeling down in front of them, and examining them for a short moment, before going around the corner, and down the hallway, to the human's bedroom. A distant 'Goodness!' was heard coming from the bedroom in question, before the tall goat-like motherfigure came back, and went to the kitchen. A faucet running, and then, she passed them again with towels, and a basin of hot water.

Frisk slowly approached Sans and Asgore, near the hearth, something Asgore seemed to be appreciating to a great extent. Frisk thought back briefly, and remembered... that was something that had been missing from Asgore's home, in NEW HOME. The fireplace hadn't been successfully lit in... who knows how long. Asgore's home had been cold, and empty, dusty, dark. lifeless. Asgore didn't know how to keep a home. Hell, he didn't even know how to cook for himself. In contrast, Toriel's home was always so warm, and welcoming. And she definitely knew how to cook. But, everything around the home was... wilted, or dead. The only things that could survive with Toriel, were a cactus, a few boring colorless flowers, and Water Sausages.

Seeing Toriel's home, now, with such a flourishing garden of vegetation in the front yard, and with proper boquets in vases, to accompany their water sausage bretheren, the completeness that was now HOME, in the Ruins, brought Frisk to see just how well Toriel and Asgore completed eachother. How much they needed eachother, in truth. And, to see that Asgore was finally at home, it helped Frisk get some ease, that feeling in their gut starting to ease up again, the nausea fading a bit.

* * *

"Hey... U-Undyne?"

Alphys and Undyne sat together, on a couch. It was Anime night, an event the two of them frequently shared, since becoming more or less of an item. But Alphys hadn't been properly able to get comfortable all night. She'd been more or less struggling to stay comfortable in her seat, restless, And as much as Undyne was doing to ignore the constant shifting, she'd definitely noticed. It was hard not to, when your lover spent ten minutes laying their head in your lap, then trying to crawl into it, before deciding sitting beside you was the best action.

"Yeah? What is it, nerd?"

"I..." Alphys paused briefly, before trying again. "Do you... ever wonder how different our world could be? I-I mean... Like, how much of an influence... a single decision could have, on how our world turned out?"

Undyne looked down at the lizard for a moment, before leaning her head back, to look up towards the ceiling, rubbing the cheek. This wasn't really the kind of thing she spent most of her time thinking about. Second-guessing everything, and questioning existence was, more or less, just not her forte. Nor was contemplating the consequences of her actions. But, having Alphys suddenly curious about her thoughts in just this way, it made her have to try and think of something.

"Mmmh." She humph'd, before shrugging "Nah. Not really. I don't worry about that kinda stuff. Plus, kinda dumb wasting time thinking about what-if's and stuff. Like, what happens, happens! Time to deal with it, 'cuz you can't go back and change it."

Alphys furrowed her brows a little bit. "That's... not exactly what I meant."

Undyne turned her head to look down at the Lizard, looking for an explanation. Alphys flushed softly, before folding her hands in her lap "I mean, n-not... going back in time to change things. I mean, like. What if for every decision you've ever made... there exists another reality, where you made a different decision?"

Undyne stared at her for a moment, blinking just a few times. Alphys stared back up at her, getting increasingly more nervous as time went on. Just before Alphys would have begun to apologize for the question, Undyne reached up with one hand, and gently planted a fist on Alphys's dome- not offensively, just setting it there "T'ch! NERD! I just got finished telling you that what-if stuff's not my bag!" she chuckles, before gently tugging Alphys's head do the side, and leaning down to gently kiss her cheek.

Alphys whined a bit at being kissed like that, and just mumbled a quiet apology, before getting hugged tightly into Undyne's side. She sighed herself out of her internal rut, and leaned into the large fish, cuddling in tight, and getting comfortable, to enjoy their anime together.

* * *

"Did you hear?" one monster asks another. "There's word going around.

"No, I didn't. What's the word?" The second asks the first.

"I heard Jerry's absolutely lost it." Says the first to the second. "He took Ice Cap's cap! And I heard he tried to use it to... to..." There was a short silence, before the monster tried to continue "N-nevermind. You don't want to know."

"No way." said the second to the first. "Jerry? I mean. He's gross, but... I didn't think he was violent."

"No-one did! It's so weird! And, now Gyftrot is missing an antler, and won't talk about it." The first continues, sounding a little worried. "I... I'm scared of what he might try to... do to me, if I run into him."

"Yeah... I feel you on that one. Don't worry though, dude. I'm here. I'll stick by you all the way, alright? And if Jerry tries to hurt you... well, I'll deck him!"

"You really mean that?"

"Yeah! We gotta stick together, after all, don't we? It'd be totally wrong if I didn't stand up for my friends! You can count on me."

"Thanks. You're... you're really the best." A short pause. "H-hey, do you wanna go to Grillby's?"

"Awwwwwyeah! I couldn't pass that opportunity up in a lifetime! I mean, not that I don't already go to Grillby's for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, you know, but... look, let's goalready!"

* * *

"This... this is a trick, right boss?" Burgerpants stared at the metallic man that stood before him, with a combination of pure terror, and deep skepticism on his features. "H-hah... hahah. O-of course it is."

"This isn't a trick, darling." Mettaton met Burgerpants's rhetoric answer with a hard affirmation. A firm, confident push back towards his original conclusion. "I'm serious, Burgie."

Burgerpants stared at Mettaton, claws gently pressed against the counter, as he avoided actually squinting at Mettaton with all of the disbelief he was holding back. What could he say, now? He had to either accept the plate of total crap he was being fed, or call his boss out for a liar, and risk getting punished for it. His whole face was starting to look like he'd eaten something spicy, and sour. Mettaton tilted his head lightly at this, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You don't believe me, do you, burg?"

"Ohhhhh of course I do, Boss! I... I believe ya! Aheh hah... hehhhh." He lied, trying not to sound too sarcastic, and more nervous. "I-I'll... I'll just... Ahaaha... I'll get right on it, sir!" He took his claws off the counter, and set them at his sides.

"Look, Burgie. The truth is." He leaned forward, now, and leaned on the counter, and across, getting in close to Burgerpants. "I've been hard on you. I know I have. Giving you impossible hours, at little-to-no pay? Darling, that's just not me. And it took a lot of soul searching, to realize that." He paused, before reaching out to Burgerpants, and gently cupping his chin with one hand, drawing him to look squarely at Mettaton, gently.

"You work hard, sweetheart, and you've put up with my charades. Making you wear embarassing uniforms, taking my abuse over the PA system, and I think... I just think it's time you get recognized for all the hard work you do, despite me."

Burgerpants could hardly believe what he was hearing. Was... was this an apology? Burgerpants was sweating like a cold glass of water in a humid room, forcing Mettaton to let go of his chin early, as Burgerpants pursed his lips "You... uh... you really... mean that, boss?"

Mettaton draws out a napkin, and gently wipes the hand that had been holding Burgerpants, off, before nodding gently to Burgerpants. "Just... take a vacation for a couple days. Enjoy some time off. And, here." Mettaton produced a small bag of G for Burgerpants. "Take a bonus to vacation on. Think of it as back-pay."

Burgerpants felt... overwhelmed. Maybe that was the best term for it. But he wasn't going to question it anymore. Either this was all some test, and he was about to lose the only job he'd ever had, which was coincidentally the shittiest job he'd ever had, or this was all sincere, and he wasn't actually just losing his mind. So he took the bag of G, and nodded quietly. Mettaton stopped leaning, and just stood straight again, smiling warmly to Burgerpants.

"I'll see you in a couple days, Burgie." Mettaton said, before walking away from Burgerpants, to go to his office, leaving Burgerpants to contemplate what his life even was, right now. He took a deep breath, slowly filling his lungs up to the brim, before falling over, onto the ground, to flail, and writhe, in a sort of a nervous break for just a little while, as the stress of that entire interaction threatened to leave him all at once.

* * *

"Oh, my child, do not be sick!" Toriel cried gently, as she hugged Frisk closely, the small human flushing gently at the affection. "Please, child, get well as quickly as you can! I will do my very best to ensure you recover!"

"P-please... mom!" Frisk protested, gently patting Toriel's shoulder, embracing her back lightly, but unable to do much else, until Toriel let up a little bit, allowing Frisk to lean away a bit. "I'm fine... really. I just... It was probably something I ate." They smiled a little bit at Toriel, who seemed to still be very worried about it. "I'm... I'm sure the moment I get some of your amazing cooking in me, I'll be just fine!" They reassured Toriel, before trying to climb off of Toriel's lap.

Toriel didn't calm down, visually, it seemed, very quickly. But after a moment or two, she'd sigh softly, and just nod. "Very... very well, my child. I'm sorry if I seem like I am holding too tightly." She was, but Frisk just nodded back.

"It's okay, mom. I'm just a little surprised is all." They grinned a little bit. Toriel furrowed her brow at said grin, not understanding why frisk was smiling that way. And then, Frisk said it. "I just didn't think I'd ever end up your main squeeze~."

A brief look of shock hit Toriel's face, before she began howling with laughter at that terrible joke. Asgore, too, started to chuckle a little bit, but such an amateurish joke? Hardly any effect on Sans. Who chimed in not too long afterward

"hold on, kid. are you embracing our bad jokes?"

Frisk chortled healthily at that one, as Toriel clutched her sides.

"Well, I just don't think I could keep them retained long!"

"welcome to the enfold, kid!"

"Thanks, I think I've got a good grasp on it!"

The next few hours were filled with lines of synonyms, and wordplay, only taking a long enough break to get food for the entirely empty Frisk, and to catch breath, and prevent death by comedic overload.


	14. Chapter 14 - Omen

Time passed. It seemed like the whole plot point about Chara forcing Frisk to save against their will was lost to the wind, as Frisk was given time to unwind, and depressurize. A couple days passed, uneventfully, with Frisk building relationships with various monsters of underground, attempting to build a new friendship with Sans, though his skepticism kept him thoroughly at bay. No number of bad puns, and shared humor, could shorten the distance between the two of them, when other monsters weren't around.

But, with all of the small victories, came the bad that inevitably followed every good event in life. Rumors were beginning to spread a little more widely, that Jerry was up to no good. Accounts of the annoying monster harassing others, shaking them down for spare G, were stacking up. And finally, the monsters of Snowdin had had enough. No more free passes, Jerry had to pay. What did they do? Well, they gathered in Snowdin, found Jerry, and put him in a jail cell, specifically crafted for the purpose of imprisoning Jerry.

"B-but... I didn't do any of that!" Jerry protested, through sniffles, and snot that couldn't be helped. "I've never hurt anyone, or anything!"

"Tell that to my missing antler!" said Gyftrot angrily, shaking the empty space where there used to be an antler, at Jerry. Ice didn't say anything. Without his cap, he simply lacked the confidence to speak. He also seemed to lack quite a few other features, that were required in making speech. And unfortunately, it didn't seem anyone could find Ice's cap. Jerry seemed to have disposed of it.

Needless to say, no-one believed for a moment that Jerry was innocent, as he said he was. They believed he was guilty. And the testimonials against him definitely stacked up pretty high. There were witnesses to his misdeeds, but Jerry was convinced. This was everyone else's plan to get rid of him. After all, everyone hated Jerry, didn't they?

* * *

Somewhere in the Underground, someone was watching the TV. Undervision's very own MTT was starring in a dramatic play, in which the male protagonist, played by Mettaton, cheats on his wife, also played by Mettaton, with the love of his life, played by Mettaton as well. The synopsis of the plot seemed very boring to a casual viewer, but those who'd been following this play since inception, knew that it had many ups and downs, heel turns, and plot twists, that somehow kept the drama going. Would the man's wife ever find out? Would he come clean? Or would he leave his Mistress, realizing his heart truly belonged to his wife?

Unfortunately, that answer would not be coming today. The broadcast was interrupted by a newscast, as Mettaton took to the anchor's chair.

"GOOD AFTERNOON, DARLINGS, AND GENTLE-DARLINGS. TONIGHT, WE HAVE AN IMPORTANT STORY, AND UNFORTUNATELY MUST INTERRUPT YOUR VIEWING OF LOVERS TRAPPED IN A WHIRLPOOL OF LOVE." He picked up a stack of papers from the desk in front of them, and shuffled them a bit, until they were straight, before beginning speaking again.

"NEW HOME AQUARIUM IS FITTING TO BURST WITH OVERPOPULATION. OF COURSE, YOU ALL KNEW THIS WAS THE CASE. THE UNDERGROUND HAS BEEN SUFFERING FROM AN OVERPOPULATION ISSUE FOR QUITE SOME TIME, AND WE'RE ALL FEELING THE EFFECTS.

"BE IT NOT HAVING ENOUGH FOOD, SHARING YOUR HOME WITH SEVERAL OTHER FAMILIES OF MONSTERS, OR EVEN HAVING TO LIVE WITHOUT SHELTER, DUE TO ALL LIVING SPACE BEING OVER OCCUPIED, YOU KNOW THE SUFFERING THIS CRISIS HAS BROUGHT. BUT FRET NOT, FINE FRIENDS. WE BELIEVE AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY MAY HAVE BEEN MADE." Mettaton smiled warmly to his audience.

"WE'VE JUST GOTTEN WORD, THAT THE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY THAT HAS BEEN WORKING ON EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES OF NEW HOME, TO MAKE ROOM FOR MORE HOMES, AND ANOTHER AQUARIUM, HAS FOUND SIGNS THAT THERE MAY BE ANOTHER CAVERN FOR US TO BUILD INTO. PROSPECTING WILL CONTINUE, AS DIGGING RESUMES. WE'LL KEEP YOU UP TO DATE.

"HOWEVER... LET'S DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO AN INTERVIEW WITH A LOCAL NEW HOME ARTIST, WHO HAS TAKEN IT UPON HERSELF TO HELP WITH THE HOMELESS MONSTER PROBLEM, BY USING HER MAGIC TO DRAW TEMPORARY HOMES IN BETWEEN EXISTING STRUCTURES. EVERYONE, GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR PENCILIA."

There was a round of studio applause, as the newscast transitioned perfectly into an interview and talk show, with Mettaton hosting for a young monster Artist; a deer with a rather large paintbrush. The interview went on, as one might expect, with Mettaton asking what drew Pencilia to draw out homes, instead of making art, and many other questions.

* * *

"I-I mean it, though, Undyne!" Alphys whined, as she jotted down some equations on a notepad, to her fishy lover. The latter of which was lounging across a sofa, in Alphys's lab, and the former, seated in her lap. "This I-isn't just some w-w-what-if scenario, th-there could really be- UWAH!"

Undyne wasn't having it, it seemed. As Alphys tried to extrapolate on the possibility of alternate dimensions, and life-changing decisions, Undyne seized her jaw, and pulled her into a kiss, to quiet her. The smaller lizard girl squirmed, and tried to pull away, not done with their statement, though completely flustered by the action. When they finally broke away, Undyne spoke, cutting Alphys off before she could continue.

"There you go with that what-if crap, Alphys. Look, I TOTALLY get it! It's exciting to think about weird nerd stuff like that! And your passion for it gets me PUMPED." She grinned, earning a nervous smile from Alphys. "But really, second-guessing our actions doesn't-"

Alphys tried to cut Undyne off, this time. "But this isn't even about ME or YOU second guessing OUR actions!" She spoke clearly, and concisely, with a tone of attempted authority, which had all the apprehension wiped from Undyne's face, her features going lax. "T-this is about, like... Okay, imagine for a sec! L-like... what about a totally-existing alternate reality, where... I-I dunno, monsters constantly fight other monsters!"

Undyne was relegated to an owlish blink, the lid of her eye traveling slowly over her orb, as she just stared at Alphys, explaining to her that there was the possibility of an underground eternally locked in combat. Monster versus monster. Fighting for eternity? Always getting stronger? Undyne slowly sat up a bit, still staring at Alphys, as she slowly got more and more nervous.

"U-undyne..?" She asks, worried for the look Undyne was giving her.

"Alphys..." She responded quietly, before placing her hands on Alphys's shoulders. Now, Alphys was visibly shaking. "That... sounds..." A huge grin crossing over Undyne's face, as she's racked with excitement. "AWESOME!" She cried out, before reeling her head back, and belting out a loud line of laughter. "HOLY COW! A world where everyone fights for fun!? THAT'S TOTALLY THE WORLD FOR ME!" She leaned down, and hugged Alphys tightly, causing Alphys to laugh a bit, herself.

* * *

Birbsy was a relatively new inhabitant in Snowdin. Coming out this way from New Home, to brave the cold winter weather, in order to find someplace... even an ounce less crowded. He was hardly the type to complain about the cold, when he finally had time, and space to himself. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with your neighbor sucked, especially as a bird. At least now, he could fly!

He'd only been out of the city for a week, but already his blue plumage was starting to look healthier. Livelier. Properly preened, and groomed, Birbsy was feeling great about himself. There had been one, or two setbacks since he left the city, namely little problems, and a financial hiccup, that left him high and dry, and without food for a couple days. But largely, the countryside was particularly kind to him.

Birbsy was enjoying a stroll through Snowdin forest, taking the chance to fly a bit, and spread his wings, making sure to wear a nice scarf, to help keep his beak from getting frostbitten while he flew. Upon landing, after a short flight, he'd chuckle to himself. "Well. Guess I better head back for home." He said aloud to himself. It was starting to get a little colder, and there was no doubt in his mind, he wanted to be somewhere warm.

That was when he was approached from behind.

"I heard you're a little tattle-tail, Birbsy."

Birbsy stopped in his tracks, as his ears were met with a familiar voice.

"I don't like tattle-tails. You know what I do to tattles, don't you, Birbsy? I told you just last week, what I'd do if you told anyone."

Birbsy was starting to shake. There was no way. No way in all of the underground he could be here, now. He was afraid to look behind himself. "Wh... what d-"

"I dust tattles, Birbsy. And I don't give second chances to anybody."

Birbsy was terrified, but in this very moment, he only had two options. Run, or Fight. And in this cold, he didn't have much faith in his speed. Instinct told him what to do, and turning around, he swiftly swung a wing at his pursuant, flinging feathers in his direction. Feathers with magic infusions, that darted at the other monster, and cut at his skin like razors. Unfortunately, however, they simply... didn't. The feathers bounced off of the other's thick exterior almost harmlessly, as Birbsy simply didn't have the heart to truly harm another monster.

 _Swish, thwack!_

A single tentacle-like arm lashed out, and swiped across Birbsy's chest. A pained expression racked across the bird monster's face, eyes going wide, and pupils constricting to a pin point. He didn't even get to let out a chirp of pain, before he was a pile of dust falling to the snow. The assailant walked away, into the trees.


	15. Chapter 15 - Ashes to Ashes

"Frisk? Frisk, my child?" The familiar voice of Toriel called out, as she trotted purposefully down the hallway, from the living space. She opened the door into the child's bedroom, peering inside, to find Frisk playing with their cell phone, posting to the Undernet. When they noticed Toriel peering in, however, they set their phone down, and sat up more stiffly, crossing their legs underneath them.

"Frisk..." Toriel began, before moving into the bedroom, smiling. "I believe it has been quite some time since you left the house last. You know, staying indoors is not good for your health." She moved to the closet, and fished through it, before taking out a jacket, and laying it out on the bed, before looking at Frisk, wondering what their human was thinking.

Frisk blinked a couple times, bewildered at the simple fact that Toriel was actually asking them to leave HOME for any length of time. It almost seemed completely out of character for her, as she had been so insistent, in the past, on Frisk staying. But context started to weigh in on the situation, reminding Frisk of how lonely, and how sad Toriel had been when Frisk first came, all those times. Such a generous break of Toriel's character was inevitable, when she was removed from the vacuum of the same repeating events, going on over, and over.

Toriel frowned, after a moment, as Frisk's bewilderment dragged on for far too long, for her liking. She stood up straight, then, and folds her hands in front of her. "My child... You cannot stay in the comfort of home forever. Everyone needs to step outside, and... get some fresh air once in a while. I think it best for your health, that you go out immediately. Socialize with your friends in person. Do not make me force you out the door..." She huffed.

It was at that, that Frisk snapped out of their trance, and slid their feet off the edge of the bed, to slip back into their boots, before standing up. Toriel appeared to approve of this action, with a hearty smile, before turning to leave the room. Frisk slipped the jacket on, before joining her out in the sitting room. Toriel had expected a swift exit, but didn't say anything yet.

Frisk moved to Toriel, and hugged her around the neck, before doing the same with Asgore, who had been napping until then. "I'm going for a walk. I'll see you both soon. Bye!" Frisk said, before turning to leave the house, through the door to Snowdin, zipping their jacket up, and stepping out into the snow.

* * *

Burgerpants huffed. What was he going to do, now? It hadn't even been a whole two days since Mettaton let him take his little micro-vacation, and he'd already blown through most of the G he'd been given. On what, he probably wouldn't be willing to tell most people. That left him with some pocket change, and a week's pay, which had been bumped up a bit. Another small 'gift' from Mettaton, a raise.

He still couldn't believe any of this. It was like, ever since that human came around, Mettaton did a flip-turn. Turned over on his head, and sat upside-down. Mettaton being NICE was just... completely absurd. And for some reason, Burgy felt... wrong. He rubbed his face aggressively, at that thought. That wasn't the right way to feel about any of this, not by a long shot. It didn't matter how 'wrong' it felt, for Mettaton to be kind, Burgy should be thrilled that things had changed. So, why did he feel so sick over it?

He was so lost in these thoughts, the normalization of Mettaton's abuse leaving him feeling absurd in its absence, that he'd failed to notice how many blocks he'd walked through NEW HOME's downtown district. He growled softly to himself, drawing a hand up to pull at his face in frustration, before looking both directions. But, finding no familiar landmarks in direct line of sight, he had no choice but to ask for some directions. He could feel his claw twitching a bit with anxiety.

He quickly searched his leather jacket pockets for his pack of cigarettes, quickly pulling the box out, band opening it, before groaning loudly. "I'm ouuuuuuut." He droned, before glancing around. A short scan of the surroundings brought him across the street, to a corner store. He pushed his way through the glass front door, and wasted no time slipping straight to the section with cigarette packs on display, snatched up the cheap brand he liked, and moving to the counter.

Setting the pack down, he'd glance around. Looked like no-one was at the counter just yet, so he rang the bell, before nervously thumbing through a nearby magazine rack. Surprisingly, Mettaton wasn't the only thing for the publishers in NEW HOME to write about. The city was so full of life, and there was so much going on, that a human could have missed, if only walking to the barrier.

Burgerpants was in the middle of reading an article, in which a reporter interviewed Minerva Strong, owner of Cobull Construction, the leaders of the effort to expand the New Home living space. It would have made a fascinating read, if Burgerpants's mind hadn't almost immediately wafted back to Mettaton, causing him to cringe a bit. "Nnnnngh. Why can't I get him off of my damn mind?" He asked himself out loud,doing his best not to crumple the paper of the magazine.

"Get who off your mind?" asked a female voice from behind the counter. He blinked a little bit, and quickly shoved the magazine back onto the rack, as though it were something he knew he shouldn't be touching, and quickly getting right to his purchase. He was about to say something, when he finally looked across the counter, and saw a familiar face. a fox-like female, silver in coloration, with dark spots. There was no mistaking this monster.

"D... Dottie?" He asked, blinking rapidly.

That was when the clerk took notice, and her eyes went wide, as well.  
"Mittens!?" yelped Dottie

* * *

Frisk shivered. Any amount of time in Snowdin forest was too long. It was a lot quicker, now that monsters weren't encountering them constantly, with a desire to fight them, and take their human soul to Asgore. But it was still too long of a walk. Frisk reached up, and rubbed their face, as it was beginning to go numb in places, before picking up the speed a bit, to hurry along. The sooner they could get to Snowdin Town, the better.

A short run later, however, Frisk came into contact with a fallen tree branch. And not in the good way, either. The branch, having been burried in the snow, and almost entirely invisible from the surface, could do nothing less than trip Frisk. They yelped, and pulled their hands out of their pockets, to try and catch ground, before they went face first into the snow.

 _Ploof_

Frisk coughed, eyes closed, as their palms found the dirt beneath the snow, and tried to push themselves up off the ground. With a short struggle, they got up onto their knees, and wiped the snow from their face. Some of the snow had melted on contact, leaving Frisk's face wet when the snow was brushed off. But- what was that gritty feeling on Frisk's face? They winced a little bit, before reaching up, to rub some of the dirt off their cheek, before seeing their hand.

Frisk's face turned from one of bewilderment, to one of horror, as they stared at their hand, covered in greyish-white sediment. It wasn't snow. And it definitely wasn't dirt. Frisk looked down at themselves, and began to recognize the material that had them covered. More than their face, and their hands, but their chest, and back. Their stomach. Their hair, everything, all covered in that greyish-white soot-like material, with little flecks of red here, and there, as well. Frisk was covered in Monster Dust.

Frisk screamed.


	16. Chapter 16 - Kindling

Toriel sighed softly. as she skimmed quietly through her book. She was currently reading through "Snails and You: A Primer on Owning Snails as Pets". This probably wouldn't be notable, if she hadn't already read the book more times than she could count. She practically knew the book by heart, at this point, and could answer any quiz about the book, and get many of the questions right. If not all of them, outright. She looked up from the book, at the napping Asgore across the sitting area, and pondered for a moment.

 _What is on your mind?_ She asked herself. _Its been so long since all of that happened. But do you really want to forgive him? He still killed children, whether he is sorrowful for it, or not._ She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She had a point to be made, for sure. No matter how woeful he was, no matter how badly that monster over there beat himself up over it, he still had the nerve to kill 6 children, and had been on a warpath for the 7th, until Frisk changed him, somehow.

Asgore stirred a little, and Toriel practically jumped out of her skin, to look directly back at her book, only for Asgore to go straight back to sleep, as though he were never going to wake up in the first place, leaving Tori to look over the top of her book at him, blushing stupidly.

 _If I think he is so terrible, that hes such a horrible fiend, why am I getting skittish at the idea of him seeing me even look at him?_ She asked herself, a quite formidable question. Why, indeed? She put her book down, and rubbed her face gently. _There is Sans._ She offered to herself, before stopping rubbing her face. She shook her head, and closed her book, moving briskly to the kitchen, to get herself something to drink. _Sans is a good friend, whom I can share a joke or twenty with._ She responded. _Yes, but a good relationship is built on top of an already existing good friendship._ She countered, placing her water on the counter.

"My word, Toriel... you are 245, and you're having boy troubles, like you're in your early 50's. I thought you said you were done with relationships, after..." She paused, as she spoke to herself, not wanting to say what happened out loud. She shook her head defiantly, and drank her water.

 _It is much easier to say I am done with men when there are no men around to be done with._ She resolved, before sighing, and placing one hand to her forehead. _Youve spent so long away from everyone, now that youre with Asgore again, for Frisks sake... It makes you want to be with him again for keeps._ She resolved, once again, filling her glass with water, and gently swishing the water around in the glass.

"... I have not ever been able to keep a plant alive. Not one. The garden wilted and died despite my best efforts." She mused quietly. _You even resorted to planting Water Sausages in your home, because you couldnt keep the flowers alive._ She scolded herself further, before chuckling a little bit. "Toriel... you are such a mess." she said to herself, as she began to feel tears creeping down her cheeks. "It's just not HOME without him, is it?"

* * *

Asgore opened an eye as Toriel left the room, watching her leave, quietly. Once she was gone, he opened both eyes, eyeing the doorway she disappeared into. But he didn't hear anything over the sound of the water in the kitchen. He pried his eyes away from the kitchen, to look towards the fireplace, where the warmth in the room radiated from. Such a welcoming sight. A hearth was a wonderful addition to any home. It made any house feel more welcoming, and radiant, on mere existence alone. And the inside of the home was made much brighter for it. Not only in a fire's value in light, but in atmosphere. This was something he dearly missed.

Asgore sat up a little in his seat, now, shaking off the slumber he'd sunk into while Frisk was out of the house, and sitting up straight. As he did every day, whenever Toriel was not around, he gazed around the room, simply admiring how clean everything was, how wonderful the room seemed. Dust free, and warm. It was so colorful. In contrast, his home in NEW HOME's castle... it was so... dead. The atmosphere was dreary, and lonely. Even with the signs that he clearly lived there, dust piled up everywhere, and the colors all felt drained from the home.

The only hint of color he could add to those dreary halls, had been the flowers he'd placed in the hallway. the only signs of life outside of those, had been the garden he planted in the throne room. He could make plants grow almost anywhere he tried. It wasn't magic, he didn't force vegetation to grow or anything... he just... knew how to work with them. It was something he never could really explain, because it was a trait he'd been capable of, even when he was simply a novice gardener. It was a second nature to him. But no matter how luxurious a garden he kept, he couldn't keep a house feeling alive, to save his life. He couldn't cook. He couldn't clean. He couldn't even keep a fireplace burning.

He stood up, then, and began walking around the room, simply... observing his old home. Looking at how pristine Toriel had kept this place, despite how many years they'd been apart. It wasn't surprising in the slightest, he knew Toriel well enough. It was just... heartwarming. It made his chest burn comfortably, like a warm hearthfire. This was home. And even if Toriel wasn't his wife anymore, if that door was closed forever, he could reassure himself, that he was HOME at last. In the end, it only mattered that Toriel was there, to make it HOME. Without Toriel, it was only a house.

When Asgore heard shuffling coming from the Kitchen, as the faucet turned off, he'd look to the clock in the room, as if looking for an excuse to be up, and that was when he remembered. He needed to make a trip to NEW HOME, to tend the garden around his throne! He glanced around, before moving to where he'd hung his cloak, and quickly put it on, as Toriel came out of the kitchen, and noticed him getting ready to leave.

"Asgore? Where are you heading off to?" She asked, as she took a few steps past her chair, causing him to pause in the midst of fastening his cloak.

"Oh. Uh... I'm going back to New Home, Toriel. Those flowers aren't going to water themselves, after all." He stated, nodding, finally getting the cloak set around his neck, and smiling to her. "I shouldn't be overlong. They aren't very needy flowers, though they do enjoy a chat from time to time." He chuckles softly.

"I see." She said simply, as she watched him finish fastening his cloak. "... Asgore..." She followed up, and folded her hands in front of her chest, taking another step, before recoiling a little. _Do not look at him that way._ She glanced away from him, before looking back to him with a more neutral tone. "... Maybe the flowers... maybe they can wait a few more hours." She started. She looked away again, trying to think of a good excuse. Nothing came to mind at first, but after a moment of thinking, she finally gave him a reason. "I wanted to make a Butterscotch Cinnamon pie, and-"

She hadn't even finished justifying him staying there, before he was already taking the cloak off, and hanging it back up. "W-well, I suppose they can wait. They are plants, after all, they aren't exactly on a strict time table!" He sat back down in his arm chair promptly, and crossed his fingers, folding his hands over his stomach, and smiling at her.

Toriel even smiled back.


	17. Chapter 17 - Hypotheosis

( * ) I hope you didn't expect a narrative comment here.  
( * ) So that way, you can be delightfully surprised to see these messages.  
( * ) Unfortunately, they have no prevalence in relation to the plot.  
( * ) Now. Where to start, in order to best tease, and tantilize you?

* * *

Perhaps talking to Undyne about these things wasn't exactly the best option. Alphys very much enjoyed Undyne's affection over her passion, but sometimes... sometimes it was a little exhausting! Maybe even a little smothering, when Undyne got excited over Alphys getting into the theoreticals, and the possibilities. Despite knowing for a fact that Undyne was listening, it didn't feel like Undyne was ACTUALLY listening. Maybe that was very much an insecurity that Alphys had, that she was projecting, but she felt a little more secure actually talking to people about this, who weren't so personally involved with her. So, Alphys took to the Undernet, for some real conversation!

Alphys started a new thread on Under-read, that's read in the past tense, not present tense, on the idea. Summarized, it was just a post expositing her entire conceptualization of alternate universes, or variations of their existing reality, in which various things may be changed. More importantly, however, were her hypotheses that these alternations of their reality might ACTUALLY exist, and might actually be reachable to some extent. What she wanted, was bounce-back, not unbridled admiration. And bounce-back is what she got.

"I've been thinking about this kind of thing for a while. I have no idea how it might exist, or any of that, but the idea that there are other realities, that are exactly the same, but with small changes... oh man, it just gets my noggin joggin!"

"oof. extreme jealousy to the alternate timeline in which monsters got to stay on the surface."

"So do you think perhaps maybe there might be an alternate timeline in which i actually went to the party last weekend and did i have fun in that timeline?"

"I HOPE THERE IS A UNIVERSE IN WHICH I AM MORE POPULAR!"

"Papyrus Is That You? There's No Universe In Which You're Popular."

"NYOOO HOOOO HOOO."

"hey that just means that this has to be the universe in which he gets popular."

"youguysarereallygettingofftopic"

"yeah, so, like, i bet this is all cool and all, but like, this is the universe in which mettaton is a total babe? so i don't see the worth in like any other timeline or whatevs haha"

"So, uh Like, did You have Any ideas On how To contact These alternate Universe places? Like, are You looking For suggestions? Because i'm Not sure Anyone would Have any Ideas on How to Make that Work except For you."

"actuallY, i have a perfectly good idea in mind. perhapS these different realities work on something like a radio frequency. A wave current, if you will. perhapS creating some form of connection between two worlds simply requires finding the right frequency through which to make these communications."

"do you actually think that'll work?"

"I like how. like literally everyone. here types differently. from each other? this is so. so great guys. ha ha ha."

"yeS. I do think it'll work. it'S a not so simple case of finding out how to attune to these frequencies, and create some kind of hole between the two planes. thaT is going to be the hardest part, i think. findinG the fundamental juncture upon which something like 'realities' exist. iT would kind of be like searching through strings of foreign computer code, in order to find what value needs to be altered, in order to get a certain result. i'M sure there's a way to do it, but i'm completely stumped as to how. buT i'm sure a brilliant mind like Alphys can figure something like that out, right?"

"eh heh heh. you're gonna make me blush"

"FiRsT"

"YOu WEREN'T FIRST YOU STONER"

Armed with an idea, now, Alphys would surely be capable of finding a good starting point for all of this. She just had to figure out what 'radio frequency' reality operated at, and tune it. finally, a project that was basically all her own! She still had a responsibility to find some way to the surface, that didn't include killing another human, she really liked to take breaks from that whole problem, to do her own thing. And it wasn't until just now that she'd been able to formulate a full fledged project to work on. The research into, and exploration, of alternate universes! She couldn't wait to get started.

First step, create some kind of device that was capable of detecting the operative parameters of reality. The first step truly was the hardest in science, as it was, by default, a step from complete ignorance, into a great unknown. everything was possible, and likely everything would come back negative your first time, or falsely positive, which would lead someone off the trail. But there was at least one factor she could count on. If the device was reading the 'thread' of 'reality', the data coming in from it would be constant.

So, objective one? Create a device that detects things, and hopefully find something that is of a constant value no matter where it is, or where it's pointed!


End file.
